Is sleep worth the Dreams?

I've been getting "alot" of sleep recently. Quotes since that means two or three nights a week there is very little activity with the three little "we eat your sleep for breakfast" monsters.

The new thing is that I've gotten in some naps as well.

BUT there is some thing about sleep deprivation (so says the internet - by the way great article on the ER and very true Aaron's twitter account) where because you are so seldom in deep sleep your brain takes you there as soon as it possibly can when you're asleep so you drop straight into dreams and straight out of them.

So I feel bombarded with dreams and ALL of them have something to do with forgetting a child, losing a child, or some variation on that theme.

I literally pinched myself in the middle of a dream last week to prove to my dream self that I must in fact be dreaming - and I'll have you know - that is NOT just a worthless expression. As my dream self I pinched my arm as hard as I possible could three times and it did not hurt at all thus proving to me that I was in a dream. Am I the only one who never took that expression literally before?

Anyway, my dream kept trying to fool me out of it, and its the only time it's come to mind during a dream, but I'm glad it did. I often have moments in the dreams that I doubt their reality. In this one I was on the phone with Jen P, nursing Finn and stopped at an uphill stoplight in Manhattan Beach. Realizing this was a REALLY bad idea I pulled into a driveway right away but as I parked, was so anxious to get Finn into safety (he was suddenly in his car seat) that I left the car in gear when I got out and had to chase it (this was the explorer we had the first year of our marriage). But even then, when the car was safely parked I suddenly didn't have Finn - and had some vague recollection of putting him down on a pillow. And I was so mad at myself, so frustrated, as soon as I thought it could be a dream I was determined to prove it - and since the alternative was that I'd lost Finn, I can tell you when I say I pinched myself, I mean I pinched as HARD as I could. Then, still afraid to be relieved I did it several more times.

So... at the end of the day with all the drama in my dreams, I can almost dread sleep. But... no, having no sleep is worse.